“Clinton Cash” — drip, drip, drip

Publication of Clinton Cash, Peter Schweizer’s expose of the money raised by the Clinton Foundation and the favors such money may have purchased, is two weeks away. However, some of Schweizer’s findings continue to trickle into the mainstream media. They are bad news for Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

For instance, the New York Post reports that, according to Schweizer, Foundation donors received lucrative development contracts following the devastating Haitian earthquake in 2010. And a small mining company on whose board Hillary Clinton’s brother sat received one of only two coveted “gold exploitation permits” from the government of Haiti.

In addition, Schweizer alleges that Bill Clinton received $1 million from a Canadian bank that was a major shareholder in the Keystone XL oil pipeline at a time when the State Department was considering the project.

This, says Schweizer, is part of a “pattern of financial transactions involving the Clintons that occurred contemporaneous with favorable US policy decisions benefiting those providing the funds.” Previously, we have discussed two other alleged instances that fit the pattern. In one, donations from Frank Giustra appear to coincide with shifts in U.S. policy towards Colombia that benefited his enterprise. In the other, donations by Victor Pinchuk may have warded off U.S. government action against his company, which was trading with Iran in violation of the sanctions.

Hillary Clinton says she’s “ready” to deal with these charges, which she calls a “distraction.” She had better be more ready than she was for the “distraction” over her private emails.